The 2025-26 state budget was approved by the Senate and Assembly yesterday, with mixed results for
children. Click here to review our initial summary of wins as well as the two key areas that elected officials failed to make progress for children and families. We will release a more detailed analysis once our team has had time to thoroughly review the full enacted budget.
Child care is a critical need for families in every community. In past years, New York State improved the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) by expanding eligibility and removing barriers for families to access subsidized care. Enrollment soared across the state. However, Governor Hochul, the Senate, and the Assembly have not allocated sufficient funding in their respective 2025-26 budget proposals to meet the growing demand for child care assistance. Without additional funding in this year’s budget, families across the state will lose access to the child care they depend on.
Governor Hochul, the State Senate, and the State Assembly have put forth their budget proposals for the 2025-26 year. Our team has reviewed the proposals to determine what best aligns with The Children’s Agenda’s priorities in Child Care, Child Poverty, Early Intervention, Education (PreK to 12), and Health & Mental Health.
The Children’s Agenda is a bold voice for children. We are pleased to share highlights of what we achieved for children and families in 2024.
From January 27 – February 12, 2025, the Empire State Campaign for Child Care surveyed more than 1,250 child care programs* from across New York State on the impact staffing shortages** have had on their programs’ ability to serve families in their area.
Find out what our key legislative priorities are in child care, child poverty, developmental services, education, and health for children throughout New York.
In The Children’s Agenda’s Sept. 2024 poll, parents told us they are struggling to afford essentials like housing, food, and child care. These stressors are largely consistent across income levels in both Rochester and the suburbs. Parents also shared their support for potential solutions.
This report examines how New York’s system of granting child care assistance program funds to 58 separate social service districts is inefficient and exacerbates funding inequities between different regions of the state. It also makes recommendations for how New York State can reform the system to better serve families throughout the state.
Disaggregated data are critical to ensuring all of New York’s children and families have equitable access to the services they need to thrive. By understanding who is and who is not being served by the state’s early childhood systems, we can better identify and address systemic inequities.
This collection of fact sheets explores the state of data disaggregation in four of New York’s key early childhood systems: Early Intervention, Child Care, Pre-Kindergarten & Preschool Special Education, and Behavioral Health. We also provide recommendations for state and local leaders, as well as advocates, on ways to improve the collection and public reporting of disaggregated data across systems.
The project was a collaboration between three of New York’s leading children’s advocacy organizations: The Children’s Agenda, Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, and the Schuyler Center for Analysis & Advocacy. Funding was provided by The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights Education Fund.
Disaggregated data are critical to ensuring all of New York’s children and families have equitable access to the services they need to thrive. By understanding who is and who is not being served by the state’s early childhood systems, we can better identify and address systemic inequities.
There is little publicly available data regarding New York’s child care system, and no disaggregated data at all on the child care workforce or the children and families statewide who benefit from their services. While some state-level data exist on families receiving subsidized care, this is not enough to tell the story of how workers and families are experiencing the system and if their needs are truly being met.
This fact sheet is part of a collection that explores the state of data disaggregation in four of New York’s key early childhood systems: Early Intervention, Child Care, Pre-Kindergarten & Preschool Special Education, and Behavioral Health. Please click here to view the full set, including recommendations for state and local leaders, as well as advocates, on ways to improve the collection and public reporting of disaggregated data across systems.
New York had an opportunity to transform the way we serve children. However, with the notable exceptions of Early Intervention and continuous Medicaid coverage for children from birth to six, our elected officials mostly opted for investments that are for one year only.
Thousands of child care providers will be excluded from the next round of the Workforce Compensation Bonus Program under Governor’s Proposal.
Children need bolder action in the New York State budget that changes systems in ways that are effective and equitable.
Children in New York need bold legislative action to make the systems that serve them effective and equitable.
